steve@cise.nsf.gov (11/15/90)
Archive-name: ftp-route/14-Nov-90 Original-posting-by: steve@cise.nsf.gov Original-subject: NSF censoring sites around the Internet Reposted-by: emv@ox.com (Edward Vielmetti) I can (and do) assert I made no threats. You will counter that whenever an Official of a Funding Agency makes a "request" a threat may be inferred even if it is unstated, and there's no point continuing the discussion from there. I don't care what folks keep on their machines - it's none of my business - and I've always been careful to say so, to MIT and a bunch of other places. There is a hack of traceroute into the ftp server code so that ftp will drop a connection if the route contains a specified network (e.g., one with restrictive use policies such as the NSFNET Backbone). It is due to Warren Lavalle of bull.com and when I asked if we could redistribute it he very kindly made it available. Anyone who wants to offer for ftp material that violates the policies of one or more networks is welcome to it. Of course it's not infallible (dynamic routing being what it is) but it's got great bang for the buck. It does not solve the general problem of the existence of acceptable use policies, nor, given that failure, does it place the onus of observing policy where it belongs (on the user rather than the server), but it is perhaps adequate for now. -s